Dubba wrote:As a famous man once said "you can't please all of the people all of the time". Guillaume I personally love your work with Bitty and would encourage you to pay little mind to obvious wind up merchants that sit behind keyboards and focus your energies on making more excellent music.

Nice kind words,

perhaps it all started by the original post being placed on a public forum on the front page ? In the new release section usually it's only people that like the material reply ? Just thinking.....

I don't even know what romantic & noble notions mean, i like to think i know a little bit about music though. Not sure about the oppressing Euro kids thing, must be a misunderstanding somewhere.

Hi Understated

It was in response to your comment

The kid in his bedroom can produce wonderful music on his computer & send it out to get voiced. The big shot producers / artists / promoters don't control the music & never will again.

I read this as one of those "technology levels the playing field" comments. I guess I didn't see anything wrong with actual artists (in this case musicians) creating music, and didn't see why a kid on their computer making music represents any sort of progress. And I seriously would like to hear what you think is "good" reggae made on a home PC that gets "sent out to get voiced". Are there any examples that you can provide?

You mention Dubmatix, which is a good example of a "recording shipped out": on his last release, he got burned by paying a third party to get Gregory Issacs to voice a track, but it clearly wasn't Gregory. He changed the credits on subsequent runs. I wondered how this could even happen....if you like an artist enough to be on your recording, you would think that he would be able to recognize his voice, it wasn't even close. I won't say I am a big fan of his music, but that's just personal taste. He's a nice kid, and his father is an incredible piano player.

As for aunthenticity, I don't believe you have to come from a certain location to make "authentic" music, but I do believe that musicians make better music than a kid with rudimentary keyboard skills and a PC.

As for Bitty, good on him, and may his new LP sell very well. He's a talented youth that deserves more exposure.

Last edited by finbar on Tue Sep 17, 2013 7:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"these European kids who sit in their bedroom with ProTools and MAC Airbooks".I don't deal with such stuff, more often than not, though i'll admit that some people produce nice sounds this way. don't believe much in the kid in the bedroom tale either, not really heard a lot of outstanding stuff.Nowadays, most of the "happening" JA producers do it the same way. It's pretty unbelievable to realize that certain people don't even know that a lot of music is being played with real instruments in europe (and not necessarily by kids), but they seem to be too deply engrossed in their clichés to steer from their usual routes. They have every right to do so.

I have to say this is typical fall back position for anyone faced with a little well thought out and honest criticism. I think its referred to as a ad hominen attack (excuse my spelling) and is basically what is resorted to when one cannot fault the actual criticism or comment. very poor form in my book.

the fact that I rate bitty mclean notwithstanding, I do pretty much think he is too slick for his own good and has begun to sound like he is singing for UB40. which he was and well might be in the future. but it bodes well for pop chart success, that's true.

one lovejb

JB, I hope you're sitting down because I'm going to shock you. I know we haven't seen eye to eye in the past but I couldn't agree with you more.

Some people have to resort to insults when they are challenged because they don't have a cogent argument. It's about time that someone challenged some of these people who like to dabble in a bit of reggae because they think it makes them cool when in fact it's not very good.

"Slick" is a good way of putting it. It's the type of music I'd play in the car on a long journey or as background music at a family get together. It's a clever marketing ploy to resurrect the old rhythms because people like the familiar. It's nice and safe music.

My foundation is strong because I grew up listening to the great reggae artists. However, it's wrong to assume that I don't listen to or buy new music as well. I love a lot of the Sip a Cup and Log On stuff. A close friend is also a well known producer of new music so I get to hear lots of it. I've done quite a bit of DJing and I sold records for a while. That's how I met the record distributor I mentioned. He wanted to buy a couple of classic 70's roots tunes I had which is irony for you!

At the end of the day: "Some are roots, some are branches, but I and the I are the root". (Bob Marley)

jb welda wrote:Some people have to resort to insults when they are challenged because they don't have a cogent argument. It's about time that someone challenged some of these people who like to dabble in a bit of reggae because they think it makes them cool when in fact it's not very good.

"Slick" is a good way of putting it. It's the type of music I'd play in the car on a long journey or as background music at a family get together. It's a clever marketing ploy to resurrect the old rhythms because people like the familiar. It's nice and safe music.

Lawd never thought i would agree with jb & Ranking Glasses & at the sametime.

And I seriously would like to hear what you think is "good" reggae made on a home PC that gets "sent out to get voiced". Are there any examples that you can provide?

You mention Dubmatix, which is a good example of a "recording shipped out": on his last release, he got burned by paying a third party to get Gregory Issacs to voice a track, but it clearly wasn't Gregory. He changed the credits on subsequent runs. I wondered how this could even happen....if you like an artist enough to be on your recording, you would think that he would be able to recognize his voice, it wasn't even close.

Wow slow down with the name calling, it's underated & yes with one r not two , understated ? funny guy.Check out my new topic & feel free to add links & comments.

If it's the same Gregory track your talking about , i also thought it was him singing, then again i'm no expert .

guillaumebougard wrote:........ but the reality is what we a deal with, and we have to cater to those people who buy the records nowadays. It is SO hard to sell records in this time, you have no idea. And cutting prices doesnt help move more units, I'm afraid. My buddies who sell at lower prices dont sell more copies.

I am toying with the idea of crowdfunding a release in the future, and maybe we could then sell at a lower price, if we get enough $$$. I'm following music projects on kickstarter to see if people with some good name recognition like Bootsy Collins are raising their budget...

Any other suggestion on this topic of selling records would be appreciated, because I have to admit I am short on ideas...

Back on topic, mr. Bougard!

As for crowdfunding, I see on Kickstarter that mr. Bootsy Collins raised only 47 % of his budget of USD 100.000. The funding is now cancelled. Nearly 1.500 different backers supported him, and more than a third of these pledged themselves for one dollar each. One might question the wisdom of asking for one dollar in a crowdfunding campaign, as the values of the items mr. Collins promised his "one dollar backers" most likely would have exeeded one dollar (e.g. free album download, bracelet incl p&p etc.). One of the reasons that mr. Collins' campaign failed might be that he didn't connect the Kickstarter project to Facebook.

As for "this topic of selling records", it seems like you have worked every trick in the book. An additional DVD included with the Horace Andy album "Livin' It Up", a nice limited edition 7" and CD package two years ago, and quite recently Bitty McLean's beautifully packaged Cornerstone 7". In this day and age, it seems like a physical record - vinyl or CD - is regarded by large parts of the public as no more than an advertisement for upcoming gigs or tours. Thus, "this topic of selling records" can be re-interpreted as "how do we recoup the investment we have made in making an album". I can already hear the B&F massive shouting "Sellout!" and "Babylon!", but let me still suggest the following: How about setting up a limited company for each new album project? Obviously with yourselves in full artistic and economic control. Estimated life span of such a company should be about two or three years, after which period gains or losses are divided among the investors, and all copyrights etc. revert to your clients. Look for investors in high cost territories, I think you'll be amazed of some peoples' willingness to part with their big money.

Of course, I might be wrong... - or maybe you have tried this already?

I finally had a chance to listen to this LP all the way thru. I think it's fantastic, and I'm sure I'll be listening to it for years to come. Thanks also for going to the expense of putting it on quality vinyl. Btw, I disagree with earlier comments about Bitty's approach to the Revolution riddim. It is a different approach, a little looser, but I think it works and adds something fresh to the riddim's legacy.

This LP seems great from the sound samples I've heard online. Respect for your involvement with this project, Guillaume. I'm a fan of reusing vintage rhythms properly and these rhythms are handled very well by Bitty to my ears. It's especially nice to see use of Junior Moore's I'm Still Here rhythm; I've always wanted more cuts on that particular rhythm. The only problem I have is that the cheapest copy now being sold online in the US is $27 after shipping! Will there be another run of copies making it's way to EBreggae?

superfine vocals over nice riddims!Great to see megaclassic riddims being re-defined in a different way by Bitty's approach. I really enjoy what he does especially on Sitting & Watching and even on Revolution - a riddim that's bored me to death since it started being overplayed at sound systems these last 15 years by soundboys. (same opinion about To the Foundation -another rinsed out by uninspired selectors to get the massive roaring of approval).As if there weren't enough other DEB tunes to pick from!Now back tothe album : my main gripe with it the synths sound on several tunes, which harken back to some of the scariest moments of 80's reggae. Too bad! Yet, Bitty's vocals save the day, needless to say.This Brotherman cut is also much less soulful than its initial version on Peckings - though the latter was mostly a first take demo,in the artist's own words.